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Monday, June 30, 2008

hung out with the Pham cousins this past weekend. while i hate the drive to northern VA, i heart hanging with the Pham-ily. it usually means alot of good food and laughter. i had to work in the area Friday and Saturday so i made a weekend of it.

Friday night, buu made her signature Com Ga that i loooove. something about the ginger and lime in the nuog mam, the rau ram, and vinegar'd cucumbers and onions. or just being around good peeps and talking smack. that works too! :)

notice her tshirt? yes, she's a craft-alicious hooker too.

on a happier note, i completed a beret. i found a pattern online for a puff stitch. i fixed a few things and added some things to the edge. it's what i do. i made it for Kim who reads my HTML code and helps me with my computer limitations. we also wanted to do a pham-ily portrait. we had to do a Good Housekeeping cover shot ... it amused us.

Saturday night, dinner was at Kim's. as always, going to her place, buu and i had to dress up. as in, play dress up. i wore a vintage ruffled cream dress that buu found at a consignment shop, and she went for a very high waisted culottes and page boy cap. Kim was cute in her hot pink crocheted summer dress. this is what happens in my pham-ily. Kim put together a fabulous dinner spread. filet mignon, spinach gratin, sweet corn, and green beans. i brought over leftover souffle and i made an attempt at Flan for Lan. i messed up the caramel part. it came out well, taste-wise but the presentation just didn't come thru for me. i may have to take a break from the kitchen for a minute.

for dessert, i made a Chocolate Souffle. i did the prep work Thursday night and just popped it in the oven while we were chowing down. i was not a fan of it. it didn't rise as high as i'd like. it came out cake-y for my taste. i also added kahlúa and espresso vodka. the cousins liked it tho. i'll have to make a go of it again in my own kitchen.

Monday, June 23, 2008

canned tuna makes me think about two things: Summers at Buu's house and 5th grade lunches. buu's mom used to play babysitter and one of the fastest and cheapest ways to feed a bunch of kids is tuna fish sandwiches. I LOVED me some tuna sandwiches as a kid. in 5th grade, i alternated between tomato sandwiches and tuna sandwiches. that was all i used to eat. today i had a craving for some tuna but i'm out of bread. easy solution: mix it in pasta. i used whole wheat pasta. again, sorry for the lack of proper measurements, it's all about taste.

i tried to not overmix it so that the tuna could stay intact but then i got all annoyed with being so careful and i said eff it. i think it took a total of 15-20 minutes to put together, boiling the pasta included.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

i decided to park my car friday and not touch it all weekend. i figured i'd walk or bus it everywhere.

started out friday night. met up with jab and some friends for some happy hour on water street. the trek took me about oh... 30 minutes? mapquest says it's 1.6 miles but there is no way it's THAT far. Water Street is where there's outdoor gambling. it's only a summertime treat. proceeds go to charity. i am not a fan of gambling but it's always nice to have a drink outside.

yesterday morning, i hopped the MTA bus, bought a day pass and i was on the go. first coffee with fellow broad christa then off to lunch on 29th street with two other broads Pam and Shannon. i had an hour till noon so i mosied along on Charles St. if a #3 bus came along, cool but if not, i could hoof it. i played with my camera along the way and basically looked like a tourist in my own home city. cute.

just outside Penn Station on Charles St.

lunch was at a really retro diner called Paper Moon Diner. they had an herb garden in the back. the structure itself was painted brightly, rather obnoxiously but it was still very charming. i felt it had a very over the top decor of pez dispenses, toys glued to the walls and ceilings, doll heads, metal lunch boxes etc. plus, there were rules. with that regard, it just felt very un-customer service-y. but whatever. now that i think about it, i feel like they tried too hard to be... cool?

tub full of basil. the one thing i liked for sure.

their menus were actually old school hard covers. real cute but i shudder to think what they did the books/pages inside.

i ordered a David's Favorite Omelette of smoked salmon, black olives and cream cheese. it was heavy on the olives but not so much on the salmon. i'd like to go back tho, to try maybe something else.

after lunch, we headed off to the craft show. it's a local thing and i was so excited to check out the the crafts. i liked it, it was a great way to meet local crafters, as well as see what they charge for their creations. some of them are really expensive and i question if it's worth it. but i don't know the material/supplies they used or how long it took them to create these items. i think it'd be fun to participate one day.

the bus rides home (i had to catch 2 busses) wasn't too bad. i don't know if the city has more busses running or my timing was good, but for the most part, i was home by 3:30pm and i'd done all that! i'll post more about the rest of the weekend later.

Friday, June 20, 2008

I've been tagged by local food blogger Vanilla Basil! (btw, i had no idea there were soooo many exeptional Baltimore bloggers out there, food related or whatever-wise. i can be so la-dee-da in my world sometimes!)

So here goes: The rules: Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What was I doing ten years ago?exactly 10 years ago, i had just completed my 2nd year of college (age 20). was back home in VA and miserable. after the flexibility of college life, to be stuck at home with the parents and siblings, it was stifling. i was also dating someone the parents did not like, and working at a movie theater. Counting down the days till fall semester started up again. yes, i was that miserable.

What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today?1. Happy hour or dinner at the harbor2. i'd like to complete at least a few rows on a crochet project i'm working on.3. hit Joanne's Fabric to check out the yarn sale buu keeps raving about4. take some more pix of some slacks someone on ebay wants to see.

5. plan the logistics of my coffee date with Christa and craft browsing with a few Broads for tomorrow afternoon.

Five snacks I enjoy:i wouldn't consider them snacks, they're just smaller sized portions of meals.

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:1. Be responsible and get a reputable financial advisor/planner2. Make my siblings trust fund babies.3. Assist the parents and grandparents so they can have comfy lives4. Take bff on spa treatment vacation to Switzerland5. Travel, first class, with rotating buddies if jab isn't up for the destinations i have in mind :)

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

after my soccer game last night, i stopped over to the Asian market to pick up some much needed produce. while perusing the bittermelon selection, a bright reddish-pink fruit caught my eye: the Pitaya. i love this expensive fruit. i don't know the first thing about choosing the right one, based on color, squishiness, smell or feel. i just picked up the one that was most pleasing to my eye.

when i got home, my roommate was still feeling in the pits but he helped me with setting up picture shots, holding props and lighting. this is also what happens when you live with me.

i was pretty clueless with how to cut the fruit. lengthwise? in cubes? in slices? what? i couldn't for the life of me remember how my mom cut it. so i winged it.

i also told him that eating the fruit will make him feel better and cure him of whatever is ailing him. i said that the dragon fruit was in the kiwi family. Mind you, i didn't know how to choose the right one, or cut it, there was no way i knew such things about the dragon fruit. thankfully, when i googled it this morning, it did say that the fruit is high in fiber and vitamin C.

Edited to add:

i realized that i neglected to include how it tasted. it wasn't exactly sweet, it wasn't exactly sour... it just ... was. it has a watery texture to it, very similar to a watermelon. the closest i can come to describing the taste is to compare it to a kiwi sans the tartness and kinda stringy-ness that kiwis sometimes have. i'm gonna have to eat some more of it to describe the taste better.

Monday, June 16, 2008

and yet another batch of safe-for-braces-soft cookies. i used this recipebut when i say i used it, not really. for one thing, i only had one egg in the fridge, and i wasn't sure if the recipe called for the powder pudding mix or if i should use the pudding that's already been made. plus, i was short on butter AND i decided to use white chocolate chips AND i used already made CHOCOLATE pudding AND i nixed the last 1/4 cup of sugar. the recipe was just a guide anyway.

my roommate was home sick today so again, when he got up, i pounced on him and he taste tested it for me. he had four! i was only going to try half of one but they were actually really good. i'll bring in a few for the office tomorrow but i'm keeping a few to me and the roommie to munch on at home.

i ate a lot this weekend. for someone with eating issues as of late, i sure did consume alot of food. saturday, there was a bbq and i had two plates of food. took me basically about the entire time i was there to chew. immediately after, my roommate and i headed on over to Pho #1 for some grub (it got nippy when the sun went down). Sunday, there was Honfestand the plethora of food vendors. about an hour after we got back, jab and i were hungry so we headed over to Kisling's. they had outdoor seating which suited me. but now that i think about it, i wonder if they have a deck? i didn't even venture inside. for me, kisling's always been just another bar in the canton area. and it was fodder for ridicule since i know the co-owner of the place. at least i think he's co-owner. he sure talks like it is. i do like that they have cider on tap tho.

anyway, the waitress was really cute and super nice. jab chose the ribs special and i decided on the mussels and stuffed mushrooms.

jab devoured his ribs. i literally looked down for a second and when i looked up again, he was basically done. the mushrooms were pretty good, i was pleasantly surprised. the mussels, however, hmmmm... i've had better. the seasoning was alright but the dish itself was kinda cold, so the mussels were slightly congealed. (is that possible?) i just won't get the mussels there again.

when i got home that night, my roommate had a hankering for indian food. i was game. we ordered from India Tandoor. i stuck with my usual Chicken Vindaloo, which was really good. Samir chose the Chicken Tikka Masala. it was so rich and creamy, yum-o! he also got Palak Paneer. what i liked best was that none of the dishes were overly spicy, so i was able to actually taste the food and i wasn't busy gulping water. now we have leftovers that'll last us a few days. which works out because i have a busy week ahead with soccer and no time at all to cook properly.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

in the six years i've lived in Baltimore, i never really ventured out to Hampden. and i should. it's effing cute with the boutiques and small town feel. and every summer there's Honfest. i went for the first time today. and i loved it. think... Hairspray... Crybaby...

the day was hot but the skies were blue with puffy white clouds. picked up jab and we were on our way!

there was live music, as well as many vendors selling their wares.

actually, now that i think about it, it was very much like any other Baltimore festival. same crafts and food vendors. the locals got in the swing of things and dressed it up!

the location was in Hampden, on their main street and the boutiques there! i'll definitely have to make a trek back there to check out all the stores.

i also made it to Red Tree where i bought a bag of fragrant spiced rosehips. the store reminded me alot like all the other contemporary furniture stores that dot the Fells Point area. they had a selection of organic clothes, aprons (that were to DIE for but cost like $50), and random home decor. it was nice to walk around tho.

it was hot as brass balls but women were wearing such big hair or wigs! props to them.

a strawberry smoothie kept the heat at bay.

i was tempted to try the crawfish but the whole peeling and picking at the meat in the heat was just not appealing.

overall, i'm glad i went, i can actually say i've been to HonFest but i highly doubt i'd go again.